Howling Syn start off right away with two strikes against them. First of all, it's the album cover. Now I usually don't comment on the cover art, but I have to say, if I saw this sitting on the shelf in a record store, I would pass right by it… I mean it just looks so amateurish and cheesy, and the castle looks like it came straight from The Friendly Giant! (that's an old children's TV show for you younger and international readers) The second strike is starting the CD with a full-length instrumental number. Unless you're an instrumental band, that's a big no-no. You want to grab the listener right away, not make him wait 4 minutes until you get to the good stuff. Even worse, that first vocal-less track doesn't reflect the sound of the rest of the disc!!! It's full of Power-Metal clichés that one would only expect from some Lord Of The Rings worshipping European band. But then we come to track two, and all is forgiven. All of a sudden the listener is surrounded by ballsy, Medieval-tinged Goth-Metal, with clean male (Patryk Pigeon) and female (Sophie LeMay) vocals alternating back and forth over driving guitars. Patryk also uses the occasional Death/Black Metal growl when the music calls for it. This Montreal band is fairly young, starting as a solo effort in '98, and then slowly gained members, so by 2001 they became a four piece. The band is rounded out by Eric Mireault on drums, and guitarist Gilbert Riendeau. The CD is a concept album, broken into two chapters, with a separate, concluding song at the end. Very ambitious for a new band, but they manage to pull it off. Quality Goth-Metal, but unlike most Goth-Metal bands from Europe, that tend to have a Death-Metal sound in the background, Howling Syn are more aligned with the Power/Medieval side of the metal spectrum. As a side note, it should be mention that the band has earned over $11,000.00 on mp3.com!!! That's quite an accomplishment for an unknown independent band. For more info on these gothers, go to www.howlingsyn.net